It’s International Rabbit Day! This weekend is dedicated to promoting the well-being of rabbits everywhere- from pet rabbits, to wild rabbits, to lab rabbits, and more.

How can we as rabbit lovers make a difference in a rabbit’s life? Here are a few ways:

Make sure you are providing a safe, healthy, enriching indoor home for your pet rabbit. Take a look at our Rabbit Care and Rabbit Behavior sections for information about proper diet, indoor housing, bunny proofing, enrichment, and more. Our article, How to Care for a Pet Rabbit, provides a basic overview. Share the article with other rabbit owners!

After a bit of tinkering, we’ve redeveloped the website to include some new features:

Search Bar
Many people had asked us to provide a search bar on the site. Now you can search for articles and blog posts using the search bar at the top of any page.

Photo Gallery
Our new photo gallery allows us to add photos more efficiently. This means more frequent updates of the cute bunny photos that you submit. (If you’d like to submit photos, email photos@myhouserabbit.com. Include your bunny’s name.)

Optimized for Smart Phones and Tablets
The new site has a responsive design. This means the layout adapts to smaller screen sizes such as smart phones and tablets. When you’re browsing on these devices, the text will be large enough to be readable, and you also won’t have to do any side-scrolling.

Slicker Comments Section
We cleaned up the styles on the comments section on the bunny blog. Now not only can you comment on the post, you can also reply directly to other comments. We also put in a new default bunny avatar in case you don’t have your own.
(Speaking of the blog, we put all of our Bunny Blogroll links on the Links page. That way all the links are accessible from one spot.)

As Easter draws near, it is important to spread the word that live rabbits should not be given as Easter gifts. While rabbits make excellent companions for some families, they have a unique set of needs that not everyone can meet.

Here are a few:

You will need to bunny-proof your home or else your rabbit will wreak havok.
Rabbits need plenty of space to exercise. They are social, curious, and intelligent animals. But they also have an incessant urge to chew. Everything from wooden chair legs to electrical wires to remote control buttons to mouldings are fair game to rabbits. Rabbit owners will need to take the time to properly protect and stow away personal belongings.

Rabbits need access to fresh hay at all times.If you have grass allergies, a rabbit probably isn’t for you. Hay provides the primary sustenance for a rabbits to maintain digestive and dental health. You can’t just give them pellets.

Rabbits generally don’t like being held.
Although rabbits can be affectionate, they’re not as “huggable” as people imagine. Children and adults alike may be disappointed when Bunnikins won’t sit contentedly in their arms or laps. Most rabbits prefer to stay on the floor and have you sit on the floor with them (quietly).

International Rabbit Day is a great opportunity to appreciate the joy that rabbits bring to our lives. Take the time to celebrate the rabbits in your life and find ways you can support rabbit welfare worldwide.

There are many rabbit welfare organizations you can support through fostering, volunteering, and donations. Find a local rescue or shelter here, or if there aren’t any organizations nearby, you can donate to the House Rabbit Society headquarters.

We’re currently in the process of improving My House Rabbit. The revamped site will include a site search function and an enhanced photo gallery. The site will also be optimized for tablet and mobile devices. We hope to launch these improvements soon. Stay tuned!

Every year, International Rabbit Day is held on the fourth Saturday or Sunday of September. This year, that weekend falls on September 22-23.

International Rabbit Day is a day to consider the welfare of all rabbits — to promote the proper care of pet bunnies so they can live happy and healthy lives. We’d also like to call attention to the joy and enrichment that well-cared-for rabbits can bring to the lives of their human companions.

Below are a few articles from My House Rabbit that fit the spirit of the day:

Sandleford in West Berkshire, England was home to the rabbits in Richard Adams’s novel, Watership Down. In the novel, the rabbits were forced out of their warren by developers. Now, fiction may become reality as the West Berkshire Council has proposed Sandleford Park as a potential site for 2,000 houses.

Many people are opposed to developing on the greenbelt land, including Richard Adams, who was born in the area. “I am absolutely resolutely opposed to any development on that area. I am strongly opposed to it and would expect the planning authority to refuse any development.”

Rabbits need space to run and play everyday. In fact, many rabbit owners opt to let their bunnies have free reign all the time in a bunny-proofed room or entire home. They don’t actually need to be caged.

Rabbits’ main diet should be hay (not pellets!). Hay should be available to rabbits at all times so they can graze when they want.

Most rabbits don’t like being held. They prefer that you sit down with them at their level.

Spaying/neutering your rabbit is essential. When spayed/neutered, rabbits become less aggressive and territorial, males stop spraying, litterbox habits improve, there are no accidental babies, and cancer risk decreases significantly.

Watch an adorable video from the RSPCA of how rabbits act when they’re not stuck in a hutch all day:

About Us

My House Rabbit is an educational website that promotes keeping pet rabbits inside the home. The site was founded by veteran rabbit owners Abi Cushman and P.A. Smith of New London, CT, who currently share their home with two mischievous agouti rabbits named Coco and Cosette.